Today’s the day to make your voice heard

It’s the day that could see changes in leadership at the federal, state, county and municipal level. Today is Election Day for a midterm that includes several hotly-contested races for the U.S. and state legislatures, a slew of state-level positions including governor and lieutenant governor, a county election that will decide on a county judge and three county commissioners, and a San Marcos city election that will determine the mayor and three seats on the city council.

At the federal level, Texas will choose between incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke. The Cruz-O’Rourke contest has been so surprising and competitive that it has garnered attention nationwide. Voters in U.S. Districts 21, 25 and 35 will also be casting votes for their representatives in the House of Representatives.

At the state level, voters will choose between Republican incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Lupe Valdez, and between Republican incumbent Dan Patrick and Democratic challenger Mike Collier. Current Attorney General Ken Paxton will face Democratic candidate Justin Nelson. State Sen. District 25 Donna Campbell, the Republican incumbent, faces Democratic challenger Stephen Kling, and in Texas District 45, Republican Ken Strange and Democrat Erin Zwiener are facing off for the seat in the House of Representatives. The races for state comptroller, railroad commissioner, comptroller of public accounts, commissioner of the General Land Office and agriculture commissioner are also on the ballot, as are three positions on the state supreme court and a number of other judicial positions.

Republican Will Conley and Democrat Ruben Becerra are facing off for the county judge’s seat. A majority of the Hays County Commissioners Court is also up in the air; Republican Precinct 2 Commissioner Mark Jones faces Democratic challenger Richard W. Cronshey, Republican Precinct 3 Commissioner Lon Shell is facing Democratic challenger Jimmy Alan Hall for an unexpired term on the commissioners court, and in Precinct 4, Republican Walt Smith and Democrat Omar Baca will compete for current Commissioner Ray Whisenant’s seat.

At the county level, several officials are running unopposed, including District Attorney Wes Mau, District Clerk Beverly Cowan Crumley and the justices for the county courts-at-law 1 and 2. Republican Incumbent County Clerk Liz Q. Gonzalez will face Democratic challenger Elaine Hanson Cardenas; Republican James H. Kohler and Democrat Beth Smith will face off for the Justice of the Peace Pct. 2 position; and Republican Karen Marshall and Democrat Scott J. Cary are competing for Justice of the Peace Pct. 5.

In San Marcos, incumbent John Thomaides and Jane Hughson are competing for the mayor’s seat. Shane Scott, Griffin Spell and Mark Rockeymoore are competing for Hughson’s unexpired term as Place 4 council member. Rick Henderson, Jocabed Marquez and Mark Gleason are competing for Place 5 on the council, which is currently held by Scott Gregson. Incumbent Melissa Derrick and challenger Juan Miguel Arredondo are facing off for Place 6 on the council.

After a record-setting early voting period, Election Day voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Unlike early voting, during which voters could cast their ballots at any polling location in the county, Election Day voting requires voters to cast their ballots at their precinct voting location. There are 15 polling places within San Marcos, including the new voting place for election precinct 334 at the LBJ Student Center on the Texas State University campus. Previously, 334 shared a polling place with 318 and 330 at Crockett Elementary School. Free parking will be available for those who have to vote on campus at the Matthews Street parking garage. A full list of voting locations throughout the county can be found on the county's website. Full candidate information, including third-party candidates, can be found on the county's website as well.